HELP! FL tenanant's lease is up and she wont sign a new lease.

[Angela Brigido]

Hi, I really need some guidance. I rented my condo last year for a year. Her lease is up on Sept. 30th, 2012. It says in the lease that a new lease is required. She said she wants month to month so I wrote up an addendum for month to month. She then said she wants lower rent and so I told her I'll lower her rent $50.00 with a 6 month lease and then after the 6 mo. it goes month to month at the original rate. Unfortunately, she has not responded and I don't know what to do. I can tell her she needs to be out on Sept. 30th but I need her to be able to allow the realtor to show it. She's very uncooperative. I also know that she doesn't want to leave but says she would stay if rent was cheaper. My condo is beautiful and all remodeled. When she moved in, she was only suppose to have a small dog. IT ends up the dog is an alaskan husky. She also has 2 cats. She gave me a $200.00 deposit for her "small" dog. I visited the condo and it looks good. Here are my questions: 1) According to FL law, doesn't she have to give me atleast 30 days? What happens if she doesn't and then tells me a few days before she's leaving. I'll be stuck without the time to show it to prospective tenants and I'll end up with it empty for atleast a month. She's putting me in a difficult position and I really have tried to be fair. I dont' know what to do. Any advice is helpful. Thanks

[Rob K.]

Angela Brigido Sounds like you have a difficult tenant. Most of this could all be settled wih a conversation. I would talk to her and explain that her lease is up and she doesn't get to write her own ticket.

I like to send a letter two months before the lease expires explaining that the lease is up. What I like to do, as long as I'm getting good rent and rents aren't going way up, is give them three options:

Option #1 - They sign a two year lease at the same rental rate.
Option #2 - They sign a one year lease at a small increase.
Option #3 - They sign a month to month at a larger increase.

I also offer them free carpet cleaning if they go for options 1 or 2.

Most people won't sign a two year lease at time of move in. After living there a year, she knows the neighborhood and saw how fast a year went by. If she signs for two years, you have her locked in and don't have to worry about it being vacant.

Maybe she will say she only wants a year and wants it at the same price. Now you got what you originally wanted and she thinks she got a deal.

If she is going to vacate and you need to show it while she's still there, I would make it worth her while. If she's mad at you, she is going to cancel showings, badmouth you, and leave the place dirty. I would tell her that for every showing, you will pay her $10 if the place is clean. I would also offer her $100 if it is rented before she leaves. Now she has an incentive to help you get it rented and for a few hundred dollars (or less), you get a new tenant and don't lose a whole months (or several months) rent.